The Pack A.D. with Topanga at The Albion Hotel, Guelph – Gig review… a German’s perspective

The Gig: The Pack A.D. with The Dead Souls, Dent and Topanga
Where: The Albion Hotel, Guelph, Canada
When: Monday 15 October
In One Word: Rock

Vancouver’s garage rock double-trouble The Pack A.D. are currently on tour through Canada. Separate from their official tour dates, the duo dropped in for a gig at the Albion Hotel in Guelph and they lived up to the occasion playing in the former hotel. The Pack A.D. apparently enjoyed the living-room like atmosphere as much as the audience. The result was ROCK and many happy people.

The deal of this evening included four bands and almost four hours of live music. Opener was the local band The Dead Souls; the seasoned trio is known as a Joy Divison cover band, but also presented their own songs on stage. They were followed by The Dents, who call Guelph their home as well. Whereas The Dead Souls remained in the darker shades of rock, Kent McKee & co came around with their self-described Lo-Fi Electro Rock. Then Topanga entered the stage. The Torontonians played a solid set of college-surf-indie-rock… but what are ‘genres’ anyway? All bands did a great job.

Take two girls, give them drums and a guitar, let them play and out come The Pack A.D. Maya Miller (drums) and Becky Black (guitar/vocals) have been releasing albums since 2008. They started in East Vancouver and are now all over Canada.

First thing you’ll know about them is that The Pack A.D. love to play live. As soon as they were on the stage, they captured the audience with their music. There have been countless comparisons to other bands or styles but that is unnecessary because Pack A.D. stands for their own unique rock. It is like a raw diamond that wants to keep the edges.

Becky´s voice was at it’s best. Songs like “Haunt You” (check out the music video) and “Sirens” just wait to find a place in your head and once they are in they will never get out. Maya regularly announced that this was a song-to-song concert lasting as long as the audience shows their appreciation. Needless to say the crowd accepted the challenge. It was no wonder that rock “haunted”the Albion until midnight.

Conclusion: If you are looking for a loud night out, The Pack A.D. makes your day.

Editor’s comment:I am pretty picky about who I let on board to write for Music Vice. An interest and passion for music is an obvious criteria, but above that having a unique writing style or an awesome name are other factors: please welcome our new writer Markus, from Germany, who ticks all the boxes. Some editing was required, but I didn’t want to lose any of his charm in translation. My favourite parts:

“The result was ROCK and many happy people.” – Brilliant.
“The Torontonians played a solid set of college-surf-indie-rock… but what are ‘genres’ anyway?” – Deep.
“As soon as they were on the stage, they captured the audience with their music.” – Eek gads, what mischievous wizardry! I hope that they released them after.
“It is like a raw diamond that wants to keep the edges.” – Nothing keeps it more real and edgy than a diamond.
“If you are looking for a loud night out, The Pack A.D. makes your day.” – Excellent Sudden Impact reference, but what about the night??